Posted on 08/24/2017 4:32:18 AM PDT by Dad was my hero
Is this a scam? Two previous times over the last couple months I was called by someone (Indian accent) telling me that I was due a refund from a transaction I had with their company last year. I vaguely recalled the transaction and they knew the date and exact amount. I just needed to access my computer and checking account so they could give me the money. (red flags all over the place so...) I told them to just send me a check and we'll call it even then hung up.
Well yesterday another call, this time they had enough details to convince me they must have been legitimate, they had the last four digits of the credit card number I used at the time. So we began playing a verbal game that lasted almost two hours.
First they said for me to go to a site and download "teamviewer.dmg" and run it. So I did (starting to have that slight fishy smell). Then they gave me an access code. Now they had access to my iMac. They kept telling me to access my checking account and I'll soon see the money reappear in it. I had some difficulty telling the guy that the credit card I used was a club visa card with no checking account attached. He transfers me to the next person. I again explain that the card has no checking account attached to it. He insists that I'm going to see the money appear in my checking account but I need to access my account. So I told him I was accessing it, just not on the computer they were on, I work from home and my pc (two feet away from my iMac) is accessing my checking account, no money. I need to access it from my computer that they are shadowing! (fishy smell is now getting stronger but I'm still hooked.)
So I finally relent and in the mean time the guy tells me that they are not in the same country so exchange rates will apply, did I understand that? Yes. NOW, ABSOLUTELY DO NOT TOUCH YOUR COMPUTER KEYBOARD OR MOUSE WHILE THIS IS HAPPENING! Got it. Now, because of banking regulations in our country we cannot transfer amounts less than $10,000 so you will soon see that amount show up in your account. Then you need to transfer back to us $9,800 and keep the remaining amount. Well, alarm bells are going off and so I try to move the mouse to the log off section of my account and I am not able to control it, all the while they are shouting at me not to do that. So I reach around the back and cold shut down the computer which disconnects their call from me because my home is using Magic Jack. Another guy was also on my cell phone. BTW, every call that came to me came through as unknown or anonymous.
I ran a malware scan and had Apple support verify that they left nothing on my iMac.
I don’t want to say you’re an idiot, so I won’t.
Go to Control Panel, Programs and Features, and see if anything new was installed within the past few days.If tere was, it’s probably harvesting all kinds of sensitive data: logons, usernames, passwords, account & routing numbers etc.
The best thing to do is say call me back in ten minutes and put (or slam) down the phone. I have VOIP so can still slam down phones.
Do Not pass Go! Do not (try) to Collect $200.
Your Identity is probably stolen now and you are in for months, if not years, of TROUBLE!
I refuse to talk to any Indian hindu accented person on the phone.
When I get a scam phone call I have my air horn handy, blow that and hang up! If not handy I just scream very loud!
“Hang up on anyone with an accent . . . of any kind.”
My general rule. Of course, I hang up on a lot of Yankees that turn out to be legit. :)
You need to find “teamviewer.dmg” and remove it completely.
This is legitimate software that gives remote access (as root!) to your system.
You also need to change ALL your passwords and probably account names as well. Further, I recommend you get new credit cards with different numbers. Call that credit card number they had the last 4 numbers on. I’ll bet you they’ll issue you a new card TODAY.
I’m not calling you an idiot—but it is an idiotic thing to let ANYONE have remote access to a home computer except your own self.
If ANY technician or company says they need that, unless you have a solid support contract with them, never, never, never, never, never, never EVER do that!!!
Read it again-—he installed TeamViewer on his iMac, not a Windows machine.
Not going to mock you - there’s been enough of that.
And what I suggest may be shutting the door on an empty barn.
But if it was me, I would do a Day One System Restore.
And do it NOW.
And after that change every password and call your bank and
credit card companies and have them reissue your card(s) and
change your account number.
Get Mr. Number for your phone.
Do a search for the file you downloaded to your computer. Macs use .dmg files, so don't search just using that. Also, look at all recent downloads, as they may have spoofed the name of the file. Just because someone says you're clean, doesn't necessarily mean you're clean.
If you fell for that, you probably shouldn’t own a computer.
It absolutely is a scam. Two years ago, as my husband was setting up a new laptop, a warning went off that the files he was transferring from another computer had a virus. He followed the instructions to “remove” the virus, including paying $200. About a year later he told me he had decided that was a scam in itself.
So a few months ago he started getting calls from the “company” that had scammed him, telling him they had been prosecuted and ordered to return the money, but while they still had has phone number, they needed to verify the credit card number. He told them to go to hell. They still call trying to “return” the money. He told them to send it in the mail. Ah, can’t do that, they insist.
It’s a scam.
yes, but if you pick up and they have an accent, blow a horn into the phone, then hang up.
I would not have trusted it FROM THE VERY BEGINNING.
They NEVER would have gotten me to download ANYTHING onto my computer.
Anything smelling fishy in this area IS fishy.
Go with your first instinct EVERY TIME. RUN!!
I have my iPhone set to accept calls from contacts only. Wish I could do that for the landline.
It is absolutely a scam. No company or organization that is going to send you a refund will do it on the phone or through your computer. You would get it in your mail box. Shenanigans like skirting limits is a BIG red flag. If it is a refund to your credit card then they simply put it back on the card and may not even tell you about it. They do not permit ops to spend more than a minute on anything like this. Time is money. When I get a call about money that is not a voice I recognize and wants some interaction I shut off the computer if it is on, then may talk to the person to see what sort of thing it is. Pay Pal is still trying to hassle me in a scam they tried to run months ago and I stay wary.
We never answer a call that is “unknown.” We do not open email ads. The computer is getting less secure and less useful as more foreign crooks get access.
(Indian accent)
Ummmmmm, yeah.....................
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